Middendorp’s comment comes after his Mamelodi Sundowns counterpart Pitso Mosimane criticised Orlando Pirates’ Fortune Makaringe for kneeling on the ball.
The German coach says he was surprised to hear Mosimane’s comments.
“I was a little bit surprised to hear one of the most decorated coaches recently put this (showboating) in such a negative critical platform,” Middendorp told SuperSportTV.
“I didn’t understand it comes out of him. The important thing for me is in their own half running back doing this crap (showboating), sorry it doesn’t work for me.
“Someone will try and be clever by showing you a YouTube clip of Messi and Neymar doing it and they will say they do it all over the well. But they do it to eliminate one on one. They do it so they can successfully create a goal. When you find a reason to explain it to me why someone does this in their own half just to do it, then what is the purpose, you shouldn’t do it.
“I made it very clear sometimes players get carried away therefore don’t waste time and energy to talk about it just leave it.”
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